1. Title, Journal and Authors

Title : Modeling and Simulation Studies Analyzing the Pressure-Retarded Osmosis (PRO) and PRO-Hybridized Processes

Journal : energies

Authors : Sung Ho Chae^a , Young Mi Kim^b,*, Hosik Park^b, Jangwon Seo^c, Seung Ji Lim^a and Joon Ha Kim^a,b

^a School of Earth Science and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju 61005, Korea; kha5s@gist.ac.kr (S.H.C.); fblsj90@gist.ac.kr (S.J.L.); joonkim@gist.ac.kr (J.H.K.)

^b Membrane Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Daejeon 34114, Korea; hspark@krict.re.kr

^c Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Energies, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 61005, Korea; sjwon629@gist.ac.kr

^* Correspondence: youngmi@krict.re.kr; Tel.: +82-42-860-7527

 

 

2. Summary

 

This review paper starts from the basic concepts of reverse osmosis(RO) and pressure-retarded osmosis(PRO), and covers not only computational modeling and simulation studies, but also the limitations of the PRO process and the effectiveness of the RO-PRO hybridized process. The biggest difference is that RO is used for desalination and PRO is used for electrical energy production. But basically, because the principles are similar, the concepts of each other can be mutually applied.

 

The authors used the water flux with concentration polarization(CP) phenomena to calculate the power density of the PRO. This paper also described membrane spacers, which are key factors in relieving external concentration polarization(ECP) by connecting dimensionless constants such as Sherwood, Reynolds, Schmidt number, and mass transfer coefficient K.

 

In addition to explaining the various RO models, this authors explained the efficiency and limitations of the hybridized process through the specific energy consumption(SEC) and specific energy recovery(SER) concepts applied to RO and PRO respectively and thermodynamic theories. Specific energy(SE) also explained in this section.

 

In major challenges and suggested solutions, after describing the reduction factors of waterflux, the authors explained the need to develop a new membrane module that can overcome the disadvantages of a hollow fiber membrane module and a spiral wound module. In addition, fouling is affected by process site, seasonal changes, precipitation, and algae. Because PRO is more vulnerable to fouling than RO, it is necessary to determine the period of cleaning and preventive measures.

 

Next-generation membranes need to be developed, but there are a variety of difficulties. This is why the passage of solvents simulation needs to be emphasized. Finally, if machine learning and computational algorithms are more developed and applied in the future, it is expected to be used not only for predicting the fouling on a membrane, but also for imparting the real-time information regarding the membrane fouling.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Contact

 

Jeongwoo Moon (Intern student)

 

Environmental Systems Engineering Lab.

School of Environmental Science & Engineering

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology

1 Oryong-dong Buk-gu Gwangju, 500-712, Korea

 

Phone : +82-10-9384-8271

Office : +82-62-715-2475

E-mail : jeongwoomoon@gist.ac.kr